


Unwanted Bonding Time

by Machancheese



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Cute Doggo, Gen, Injuried, One-On-One Bonding Time For My Boys, Road Trip, Stranded, There May Be A Piggy-Back Ride Involved, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22671121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Machancheese/pseuds/Machancheese
Summary: Gil sends JT and Malcolm a few hours out of town to investigate the friend of a victim, as always things don't go as planned, and the two men are forced to spend some quality time together.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & JT Tarmel
Comments: 75
Kudos: 202





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey JT! I need you and Bright to take a trip out to this address.” Gil said, stopping JT in passing and handing him a sticky note.

“We got word that the owner of the property, Jaron Marshall, used to work with our victim Daisy Owens. Apparently they knew each other quite well. He may know something we don’t. You and Bright need to check him out, see if any bells go off that he may be involved. Meanwhile, Dani and I will keep looking through Daisy’s past, see if we can find anything else that may give us a lead.”

“Got it, boss,” JT replied back looking down at the sticky note as Gil started to walk away. “Wait! Gil!” he called out. “This is all the way out in Pound Ridge by Lake Kitchawan. That’s like two hours away, man.” 

“I know it’s not ideal, but we need to know. Jaron is currently our only lead, and think of it this way, it will be fun for you and Bright to get some one-on-one bonding time!” Gil shouts back to JT before entering the bullpen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Did you know stop signs used to be yellow?” Malcolm stated, excitedly pointing out the car window to the sign they currently waited at.

They were a little under thirty minutes into the ride, and at first, the two talked about the case and Malcolm’s profile, but as time went on, the conversation came to an end, causing the silence to set in. Malcolm, feeling the need to disturb it, went to the first thing that came to his mind: facts.

“They actually used to be a variety of colors when they were originally invented in 1915, but by the 1920’s, the stop sign officially became yellow because of better visibility both in the day time and at night and--”

“No offense dude, but I really have no interest in the history of the color of stop signs.” 

“Right, sorry! What do you want to talk about? Our trip just started, we can’t just sit in silence for the next hour and a half.” 

"You’re right, how about some music...” JT stated, reaching over and turning on the radio, obviously not interested in holding up a conversation right now.

“Fine with me.” Malcolm mumbled, turning to look out the window, resting his arm and head against the door, zoning out to the song on the radio.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After an hour, JT decided he could use a coffee and the car could use some fuel itself. JT looked to his right to ask Malcolm if he had any input on where they should stop, only to find him passed out with his head resting on his hand, bent at an angle that would surely cause him to be sore when he awoke.

JT was positive he had never seen Malcolm this relaxed and content. In the few months they had known each other, the only Malcolm that JT knew was the manic-Malcolm grasping onto any case he could to fulfill his need to solve a murder.

JT decided it would be better to just let the man sleep, so he pulled over at the closest rest stop. Finding a scrap piece of paper and pen from the car door’s pocket, JT wrote a quick note.

Leaving the note on Malcolm’s lap, he quietly got out of the car, trying his best not to wake him while closing the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_In darkness, skinny black skeleton-like hands grabbed and pulled at his limbs, all while one single voice whispered over and over again, “find me”..._

As Malcolm awoke with a jolt, he immediately felt the tightness in his neck and numbness in his hand where his head still rested. He slowly opened his eyes, letting the bright sunlight in. Confused as to where he was at first, he slowly observed his surroundings.

His memory quickly came back as he remembered the trip he and JT had embarked on. Realizing he was still in JT’s car, he slowly lifted his head, feeling pain as he forced his stiff neck to turn to the left, only to find the driver’s seat empty.

Conflicted on what to do next, Malcolm dropped his numb hand to his lap. He regretted it as the second his hand made contact with his lap it exploded in pins and needles.  
  
Cringing, he started to rotate his head, working the strain out of his neck. While doing so, he noticed a note resting on his lap not too far from where his hand had fallen. He picked it up with his working hand and read:

_I needed coffee and the car needed gas, be back soon. - JT_

He dropped the note and worked on slowly waking up his hand. Clenching and unclenching his fingers, the pins and needles slowly worked their way out of his tingling nerves. He snapped his head up, startled, when the car door popped open and in came JT with a grocery bag and a tray with two cups of what Malcolm assumed was coffee.

“Mornin’, sleep well?” JT asked as he got himself situated. “I got some snacks and coffee.” He stated, lifting up the tray and bag. 

“If by sleep well, you mean my wrist no longer works and I can’t look to the left without a sharp pain shooting through my neck, then yeah, I’d say I slept well!” Malcolm replied with a smile, his voice a little hoarse from the nap.

JT handed Malcolm a coffee and put his own in a cup holder, throwing the tray in the back seat. Malcolm took a sip and cleared his throat.

“So these snacks, what’d you get?” 

“Well, I remember you said something about most food making you sick, so I got you a banana and a sandwich, and if the sandwich is too much, I can take it and eat it later.” JT said while pulling out the food out and handing it over to Malcolm.

“Thanks, sorry about falling asleep, by the way. I guess I was a little more tired than I thought I was.”

“I’m just glad you didn’t have another freak out like the one you had at the precinct.”

Malcolm gave an awkward chuckle, looking down at the coffee in his hands, “Yes, that would have… not been good... how long was I out?”

“An hour, we have a little under thirty minutes left till we arrive. Lucky you, you slept through half the drive!” 

JT grabbed his own sandwich and threw the now empty bag in the back to join the previously discarded tray. “Let's get this show on the road?” JT exclaimed, starting up the car pulling out of the parking lot.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gahhh!!!!! thank you everyone for all of the lovely comments on the first chapter! I can now see why writing can become so addicting. I'm really loving writing this story and I can't wait for you guys to see what happens next. Love Y'all enjoy! UwU

The long, rough driveway seemed to go on forever. When the car finally reached the end, there was a small home in sight. The property was not well kept, with tall overgrown plants surrounding the house. There were a few old, junky cars by a shed, but none of them seemed to be up and running. The lights were on inside, giving Malcolm and JT proof someone was indeed home.

“Let’s get this over with. Please don’t do anything to get us killed, man.” JT said, putting the car in park.

“Hey, we don’t even know that this guy is dangerous, and for your information, I don’t purposefully try to get myself, or others, killed. It just happens to come with this job.”

“It really doesn’t just ‘come with the job’, at least not as consistently as it does with you.” JT chuckled. “I mean, come on man, how many close calls have you had just this month!”

“Ok I admit, I may be a little bit accident prone, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get us killed while having a civil conversation with a friend of our victim. We’ll be just fine.” Malcolm commented, opening the door and stepping out of the car while JT quickly did the same. 

JT matched his pace with Malcolm’s as they approached the door. JT stepped in front and knocked, waiting a moment,

no reply,

he tried again, 

still no answer. 

They both looked at each other.

"The guy must have left his lights on. Come on, let's go.” JT decided, turning to leave. Malcolm grabbed his upper arm, stopping him.

“Wait! Did we really drive all the way out here just to walk away? What if the guy is guilty, so he is hiding.”

“He’s not a dumbass, Bright! If he was hiding, he would have turned off the lights. Plus, there is not a working car in sight. How would he even get all the way out here without a car? He’s not home!”

"He could have taken an Uber, or…" Malcolm trailed off, looking over at the side of the house. 

Before JT could even turn to see what had caught his eye, Malcolm had set off in the direction he was looking. JT quickly followed after Malcolm, who had stopped at one of the cars that was currently under a grey tarp. Malcolm quickly ripped off the tarp, under it an almost perfect condition Honda Civic. 

“He’s definitely here.” Malcolm turned to JT, an almost alarmed look on his face before running back to the house, JT not far behind. 

"NYPD! OPEN THE DOOR!" Malcolm shouted while he banged on the door. 

Getting impatient, he tried the knob, finding it unlocked. He slowly opened the door as JT pulled out his gun. They entered the house, scanning every inch of the first floor. Once cleared, JT started to head up the stairs.

“Bright, stay down here and watch and make sure he doesn’t try and make a run for one of the doors.”

“Got it!”

As JT disappeared up the stairs, Malcolm started to look around. Nothing seemed too suspicious: there was a glass fruit bowl on the counter, a remote for the tv resting on the arm of the couch, and a stack mail on a side table by the door. It looked like an average house on the inside, quite neat actually compared to the exterior.

Malcolm bent down and observed a picture of Jaron and what looked to be a brother, or a friend, on one of the kitchen counters. Faintly, he heard a creak from behind him. Malcolm started to turn around to investigate, but before he could, the fruit bowl that was previously on the counter had been smashed into his head, sending him to the ground. Malcolm instantly got back on his feet using the counter as support as he rapidly stumbled after who he assumed was Jaron. 

While Malcolm chased Jaron his vision started to get blurry around the edges as his head pounded, and he swore he could feel blood streaming down the side of his face but nonetheless he followed Jaron straight out the back door. The man ran towards a path going into the trees behind the house. Malcolm was not too far behind, almost within arm’s length, about to grab on to the back of the man’s coat, when his foot got caught on something and his body was slammed to the ground. Luckily his body took most of the fall, sparing his head, but the whiplash from the fall caused his vision to spin and become a complete blur.

Ears ringing, he put his hands under him and went to get back up, but the second he put weight on his right foot pain shot up Malcolm’s legs, causing him to go back down, this time catching himself with his hands. Surrendering, he gently lowered himself down onto the slightly damp earth. So dizzy to the point that he felt as if he were stuck in a laundry machine, Malcolm closed his eyes, hoping it would help ground him, only to find unconsciousness slowly take over his mind and body while it absorbed the nice coolness the ground gave his throbbing head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
After telling Malcolm to keep watch downstairs JT headed the rest of the way upstairs. He went room by room, checking to make sure it was clear. A few rooms in, he heard a crash from downstairs and he quickly turned around and sprinted down the hallway and stairs, taking them two steps at a time. When he finally reached the kitchen, he saw shattered glass everywhere, a few drops of blood, and the pantry door open. 

They forgot to check the pantry.

“Shit.” he whispered under his breath as he noticed blood by the back door. JT headed out to the yard, gun still drawn. Back in the trees behind the house, he noticed a lump,

a human form,

Malcolm.

JT’s heart droped and once again whispered  
“Shit.”


	3. Chapter 3

  
JT scanned the backyard slowly, making sure Jaron had truly fled before running up to Malcolm. Malcolm was unconscious, lying on his stomach, head turned to the side so he wasn't face first in the dirt. JT bent down, placing a hand on his shoulder, and gently turning him onto his side. 

JT looked Malcolm up and down and let out a sigh of relief when he found the only place Malcolm was bleeding was from a gnarly gash on his head. He started to softly rub Malcolm's shoulder in an attempt to wake him up. 

Meanwhile, he pulled out his phone with his other hand. JT dialed Gil's number and put it up to his ear, hoping to at least get some back up coming their way, but seconds later when JT heard the BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, he knew at that point they were on their own.

“Goddammit! No signal.” Frustratedly, he put his phone back in his pocket and returned his attention back to his partner.

Shaking Malcolm's shoulder a little more aggressively, JT started talking in hopes Malcolm would come to. “Bright, come on, time to wake up! We have a case to work, remember?” Finally, a groan escaped Malcolm's lips. "Bright you with me?" JT questioned.

Malcolm’s eyes started to open. He immediately went to sit up. JT stopped him with a firm hand to his chest, slowly pushing him back down. “Woah man, take it slow, I don’t need you passing back out on me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a long time, or what seemed to be a long time, it was just darkness. Malcolm felt as if he was just existing in an infinite void of nothing. He felt fuzzy, comfortable, even warm. But then the throbbing in his head came back, he felt like he was rocking side to side, it was becoming colder, and he could hear something but he couldn't make out what. 

At first, all of those things were dulled down, but as the seconds passed, they intensified and quickly became very uncomfortable. The throbbing became pounding, the rocking made him dizzy, he rapidly became freezing, and the sound, still unidentifiable, became overwhelmingly loud. He groaned as it became too much and then out of nowhere the sound finally made sense.

"Bright, you with me?"

Malcolm finally mustered the strength to open his eyes. The second he saw the trees it all came back to him - why he was on the ground to begin with - and he remembered the suspect was still on the run. He went to get up, to continue the chase he had begun, but a firm hand to his chest stopped him and gently pushed him back down. 

Malcolm looked down at the hand still on his chest, and followed the arm connected to it up to the person it belonged to: JT

JT’s mouth was moving like he was saying something, but Malcolm couldn’t grasp them as his head had begun spinning again. Giving up any idea of continuing chasing the suspect, he dropped his head back to the ground, closing his eyes, and took a few deep breaths before opening them again. 

“You back yet?” JT asked, wearily removing his hand from Malcolm’s chest.  
  
“Yeah… yeah, I… I’m fine. Jaron uh… what happened.” Malcolm replied weakly, looking up at the cloudy sky, blinking a few times and breathing in the cool air. His head still throbbed, but the ringing had stopped, though now that he was conscious, he could feel his ankle, and it did not feel good. It contrasted the temperature of the cold ground as it felt as if it was on fire.

JT replied, “I don't know what happened. I was doing my job when I heard a crash, so I came downstairs to find you out here passed out. Jaron was already gone by the time I got here. If he stuck around I wouldn't know, I haven't had much chance to look to find out because I couldn't just leave you lying here unconscious. I tried to call for backup, but of course, no signal.” 

“That’s not good.” Malcolm groaned, sitting up slowly and reaching up towards his head. Gently, he touched the now barely bleeding gash on his head. “How bad is it?” he asked, wincing.

Still crouched beside Malcolm, JT examined the cut a little closer. “You'll survive. You may need a couple of stitches, but it's hard to tell with the amount of dried blood around it. I’m more worried about the concussion you may or may not have.”

“So what now?” Malcolm asked.

“Wow! Malcolm Bright, for once, does not have a plan. I think this is a first. How will we ever survive?” JT teased.

“Hahaha, very funny, give me a break would you, I just got a glass bowl smashed into my head.” Malcolm said, looking down with a smile and a small chuckle.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got the plan this time. We are gonna drive until we have enough service to call Gil and get people out here to look further into Jaron. We did our job and we found out the guy is obviously guilty about something. Now it’s time to get the rest of the team involved. Come on, let’s get to the car.” JT stuck out his hand, giving Malcolm something to grab on to. 

Malcolm accepted the hand and JT gently helped pull him back up onto his feet. They stood like that for a second as Malcolm’s brain caught up with the movement and he steadied himself.

His ankle was not happy with the pressure now being applied to it, the fire inside it raging hotter, but he wasn’t about to let JT know about that quite yet. It was embarrassing enough that he got his head smashed in by a fruit bowl. He didn’t need JT knowing the reason he was on the ground in the first place was because his clumsy ass tripped over a root.

Malcolm slowly took a step forward, testing the waters before fully committing to walking. It hurt a lot, but he decided it was bearable. 

“You good? You're looking a little uncomfortable there.” JT pointed out suspiciously.

“Yeah, my head is just throbbing after being assaulted, that's all. Now let’s go before I decide I would rather just be unconscious again.” Malcolm brushed him off before pushing forward. He really just wanted to be back in the car where there was a heater and he didn’t have to put anymore pressure on his now swelling ankle.

As the two men finally made it around the corner of the house into the front yard, Malcolm stopped.

“Uh JT.”

Concerned, JT stuck a hand out ready to catch Malcolm if his body decided to give out on him. 

“Bright, you good?!”

“Yeah. No, I’m good. That’s not, though.”

Malcolm pointed towards the car.

“You have got to be kidding me! This cannot be happening.” JT groaned in disbelief.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is definitely not one of my favorites, but it setting up for the next two and they are my favorites so far! A lot of cute wholesome shit with a little angst coming up that I can't wait for y'all to read!

  
When JT looked to where Malcolm pointed, he didn't see it at first, but then he noticed it: the two tires on the car were both slashed and now flat. 

There was no way they were driving the car out of there. 

“This just got a whole lot worse for us.” Malcolm sighed, slowly making his way towards the car with JT following behind. 

"This guy is an asshole. Not only did he knock you out, but he just had to destroy the only way for us to get back to civilization. I am so done with today, can I get a restart because, man, we need it." JT ranted as they approached the car.

JT unlocked the doors and opened the passenger door for Malcolm so he could at least sit down while they configured a new plan. 

As Malcolm dropped himself into the seat, JT continued, "I mean come on man, why my car, what did it ever do to him! It's not cool, really not cool." 

"Yeah, really not cool." Malcolm said, staring out the windshield, not even glancing towards JT. 

"Hey, are you doing ok? You're acting oddly quiet." JT asked, putting a hand on Malcolm's shoulder.

Malcolm jumped slightly, snapping out of his state, and looked at JT, hiding behind his fake smile. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Ok. What we are going to need to do is either go find cell service, or get to the nearest house to see if they have a landline, so we can contact Gil."

Malcolm looked at his watch and groaned. "It's almost four o'clock now, and let's say the nearest house is a fifteen minute walk. After we find a phone and get back here we are still gonna have to wait over an hour and a half for anyone to get here, it's basically going to be seven before anyone gets here. This is about to be a very long night." He threw his head back against the seat in defeat, moaning as the impact shook his already swollen brain.

"I guess we better get going then." JT replied, standing back.

Malcolm stepped out of the car, unable to hide a wince as his foot made contact with the ground. JT took notice. "Are you gonna be able to walk a mile?"

"Of course. I just moved a little too fast and got lightheaded. I'll be fine once we get going."

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Malcolm was doing a really good job at hiding his pain, he stumbled a few times, but those were the only physical signs, so JT had relaxed a little and was walking in front, keeping a good pace in hopes they would get back to the car before it started getting dark.

But what JT didn't see was the throbbing in both Malcolm's head and foot and the fact that the world was not quite looking right.

By the time they arrived at the nearest house, Malcolm was very much out of breath, and he felt like at any moment he was gonna throw up as the world started to feel a little off its axis. 

When they started walking up the porch steps, Malcolm stopped at the third step and dropped down, resting his head against the hand railing.

"JT, go on ahead, I need a breather.”

JT stopped. “Are you sure you're ok?”

“I will be.” Malcolm replied, closing his eyes, concentrating on enduring the pain exploding through his ankle.

JT turned back toward the door and went to knock when the door opened and out stepped a very large man several inches taller than him. 

“You two need to get off my property right now or I'll send my dog on you. Or by the look of your friend over there, just calling the police may be all it takes.” The man said possessively, standing very close in JT’s personal space.

“Well luckily, you calling the police won't be necessary.” JT rebuked, flashing the man his badge resting on his hip by his gun holster.

“I ain't done nothing wrong, you have no reason to arrest me.” The man now confused, changed his whole posture and took a step back.

“We aren't here to arrest you, no need to sweat. We just need a favor. Me and my partner here just need to borrow a phone. Our cells don't get service all the way out here and we need to get in contact with our team.” JT said calmly, gesturing back towards Malcolm.

“Oh ok! Yeah that fine, there is no problem with that at all. Come with me. I’m Leon, by the way.” He introduced himself.

“I’m Detective Tarmel, and that is Bright. He is not doing so great.” JT replied, pointing towards Malcolm.

JT watched as Leon glanced over at the barely-conscious Malcolm before he turned around and went inside with JT not far behind.

Leon led JT back into his kitchen and handed him his phone.

“Here's that, and I know you're on duty, but would you like anything to drink?” Leon offered

“Uh, just some water, please.” JT replied, dialing Gil’s number.

 _“Arroyo”_ Gil answered.

“Hey Gil, Bright and I got ourselves into a little bit of a situation.” 

Concerned, Gil asked, _“What did he do this time? Are you guys okay?”_

"For the most part. Bright's a little banged up, though. We found out Jaron is definitely guilty about something. I was upstairs searching for Jaron when he got a good hit on Bright and got away, but before leaving he slashed my tires. And we don't have service, so concussed Bright and I had to walk a mile to the next house to borrow a phone. We need you guys to start heading this way and the place needs to be searched anyway, so you should probably send some officers over too." JT informed him.

_"Got it. Dani and I will head out now. We'll try to get there as soon as we can, but you guys are gonna wanna get comfortable; it’s going to take a bit. How bad is Bright's concussion?"_

"It's hard to tell because the guy always acts a bit strange but, from what I can tell, it's not too bad. His balance is off, he's stumbling a lot, and he's getting pretty exhausted. He is currently sitting on the front steps basically unconscious, but he can still keep up a conversation, his words aren't slurring or anything. He really just needs to get back to the car and relax till he can get home." JT explained.

_"That's good I'm glad neither of you got majorly hurt. Let Bright know we are on our way and we'll be there soon. I'll also get some local cops looking out for Jaron and his registered vehicle, see if we can skip some steps in catching this guy."_

"Thanks boss, see you soon." 

_"Bye, JT."_ Gil said before he hung up.


	5. Chapter 5

Malcolm listened as JT followed Leon inside. He counted his breaths as he tried to get a grip on the intense pain in his ankle, and throbbing in his head. Malcolm was focused on the blow of wind and the birds chirping when he heard grass rustling and what sounded like an animal sniffing. He opened his eyes just in time to see a big black fluffy face stuck in his own. 

Startled, Malcolm stood up and stepped back away from the huge animal tripping on the stair behind him and falling back onto his forearms. The animal followed him and continued sniffing up Malcolm’s body all the way to his face.

Now getting a good look at the animal, Malcolm realized it was a Newfoundland dog, notoriously known for being very large, calm, and loyal, the fact that Malcolm currently wasn’t being attacked made him relax a little. He slowly brought his hand up to where the dog was smelling and let it get a sniff before slowly bringing his hand to the top of its head and gave it a nice pet.

“Good dog,” Malcolm said, like he was still trying to convince himself it was true. He sat back up and rubbed his face, shaking off the panic and trying to get a hold on the now spinning world. The dog sat down on the step below him and gave his knee a nudge with its nose, asking for more attention. Malcolm leaned forward and pet the dog once more before checking the tag on its collar. He had to squint for a moment to get his vision to focus enough to read it.

“Ellie, huh? Well aren’t you a pretty girl!” Malcolm cooed, roughing up the fur on her head. He rested his head against the railing again and continued to stroke Ellie, once again relaxing while he could, knowing shortly he would soon be suffering.

He zoned out again until he was startled by the front door behind him creaking open.

"I see you’ve met Ellie." Leon stated.

Malcolm looked down at where his hand still rested on Ellie's back, while he wasn’t paying attention she had laid down on the same step as him with her head in his lap.

"Yeah, uhh sh-she's a real sweetheart." Malcolm smiled before looking up to where Leon was standing and asked. "Where's Detective Tarmel?"

"He had to use the bathroom real quick, he'll be out soon." Leon said before sitting down in a chair on the porch. 

"Thank you for, ummm, for letting us use your phone."

"No problem! It sounds like you two got yourselves into a little bit of a situation, so I'm glad to have helped. It's always smart to get some good karma under your belt, you know?" Leon said with a chuckle.

“Trust me, I know. I…I’ve been trying my whole life.” Malcolm commented, playing with the fur under his hand.

“You know, Ellie usually doesn’t trust strangers. She had an abusive past before I adopted her, so it's rare to see her act this way so quickly after meeting someone.”

“Really?” Malcolm smiled, raising his eyebrows, surprised.

Interrupting, JT came out the door, causing Ellie to startle, quickly standing up and returning to her owner’s side. Malcolm looked over to where JT stood.

"Whelp, they are on their way, but it will be a while. We should get going before it gets dark. You ready?" JT asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Malcolm answered. Slowly, he stood, letting himself steady, before putting weight on his angry ankle once again. 

"Good luck, you two. You know where to find me if you ever need something." Leon smiled, standing up from his chair and whistling Ellie back inside.

"He seemed like a nice guy. His uh… dog sure was cute." Malcolm said, slowly making his way down the steps.

"He sure was. Gil said he and Dani are on their way and will be here as soon as they can, but it will still be a bit of a wait. Once we get to the car, I think it may be a good idea to get out the first aid kit and at least clean up that head wound of yours." JT said, putting his hand on Malcolm's shoulder.

"Ok, th-that sounds good to me." Malcolm replied shortly as he started walking away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JT and Malcolm had been walking for a good five minutes. JT was in front again, keeping the pace, and Malcolm stayed farther back. He started to zone out more and more, the world not looking quite right, just listening to the sound of gravel crunch under their feet. 

Malcolm was walking one foot after another, bearing through the pain, until he took a wrong step into a pothole he didn't know was there, causing him to put more weight on his ankle than he intended. It gave out from under him shooting pain through his leg as he fell forward, catching himself with his hands and knees.

"God dammit." he cursed under his breath.

JT was there in a second. “Woah man, you ok?” 

Malcolm sat back, pushing his hair back out of his face, before replying, “I…I’mmm fine, j-just give me a sec--” he slurred, pulling his legs up to his chest, wincing, before resting his head on his knees, taking a second to let the dizziness that had come with the fall fade and his frustration die down a little. His head and ankle pounded so much he felt as if someone was banging on him like he was a drum.

“Holy shit, what happened!” JT said, alarmed.

Startled, Malcolm looked up to see JT, now crouched in front of him, examining his ankle where his pants had ridden up when he pulled his legs in.

“It- It’s nothin'. Don't, ummm, don’t worry about i--...” Malcolm shrugged him off, starting to stand back up, wobbly.

“Wait, what are you talking about? That's not nothing! Your ankle is so swollen I’m surprised your foot still fits in your shoe and you're starting to slur which is really not good. When did this happen?” JT exclaimed, stopping Malcolm from standing up.

“I’m pret’y sure if... if I took my sh…shoe off ri-right now I couldn't get i’ back on.” Malcolm noted.

“Bright, when did you hurt your ankle?” JT restated.

“Ri-right. It, uh, happened back at, ummm… I tripped on a s…st…tupid root while chasing ‘im, that…that’s how I ended up on th-the ground in the first pl’ce.” Malcolm confessed, stumbling over his words, and looking down at his lap. 

“Why didn't you tell me! This partner thing doesn’t work if we’re not honest with each other, Bright!” JT scolded, on the edge of anger.

“I’m sorry, J-JT, I really am… I just… I’m not used t-to having people around who care, and, uh, when people who d-don’t care hear about stupid mis-mistakes like tripping over a… a root...it’s more of a reason for them to look down upon me. So if… if it i-is not important, I prefer to keep it to myself.” Malcolm revealed.

“This is important, Bright. You're injured! If I had known we could have easily arranged for you to stay back at the house and just chill in my car while I went for help, or at the least asked Leon to give us a ride back instead of walking and just making it worse!”

“YOU DON’T GET IT!!! THAT MAKES ME WEAK AND MAKE… MAKES IT SO EVERYONE ELSE HAS TO DO THE WORK WHILE I-I’M JUST SITTING AROUND WAITING FOR SOMEONE'S HELP WHEN I DON’T NEED IT. I’M ALREADY A BIG ENOUGH BURDEN I DON’T NEED TO ADD TO IT B-B-ECAUSE I CAN’T EVEN CHASE AFTER SOMEONE WITHOUT BEING A KLUTZ!!! I HAVE TO HELP!!!!” Malcolm exploded, face going red with wild hand gestures through the whole rant. 

Shaking Malcolm closed his eyes and let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. JT sat down in front of Malcolm and waited in the silence for a few minutes, giving Malcolm a second to collect himself, before speaking again. 

“Bright… You are not a burden, you have done so much to help this team. I know we don’t always show it, but the team wouldn’t be half as good without you on it, and it would kill Dani, Gil, and me, if something were to happen to you. It doesn’t matter if the injury is something you can handle by yourself, or if it happens because you were being an idiot. We want to know so we can help, because that's what a team does.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys this is the second to last chapter!!! My first fic is coming to an end, its kinda sad. The last chapter will probably be posted Saturday but if you're not reading this right as it comes out that information doesn't really matter, anyway I'm rambling. Thank you all and enjoy!!!!!

After a while of sitting there giving the air time to clear, JT broke the silence, “It’s been a long day man, we should head back.” 

“Yeahhh y-y-our right.” Malcolm mumbled before slowly getting up on his feet.

“Watch where you're going this time.” JT added while also standing up.

Malcolm put his good foot forward, but the second he put weight on his swollen ankle his leg gave out from under him. The pain, ten times worse than before, engulfed his limb. JT reached out, grabbing Malcolm’s arm, keeping him upright. Malcolm groaned.

“Th-this i...is bad JT, I definitely h-hurt it more when I tripped and m-my head is pounding. I...I can’t do this an-anymore, I’m not-t gonnnnna make i’.” Malcolm broke down, trying to sit back on the ground.

JT wrapped his arms around Malcolm’s waist, keeping him upright.“Bright, man, that’s just the concussion talking. You're going to be just fine. I have an idea because you obviously aren’t gonna make it another step, but you have to promise not to tell anyone about this for both our ego’s sake. Got it?” 

“Mmmmh” Malcolm nodded, eyes closing as the world spun. 

JT made sure Malcolm was holding up his own weight before letting go and stepping in front of him with his back towards him. He crouched down so he was a little bit shorter than Malcolm.

“Have you ever had a piggyback ride?” JT asked.

“Mmmhhhm.” Malcolm hummed, eyes still closed completely unaware the JT was waiting for him to get on.

“Bright… open your eyes man! I need you to wrap your arms around my neck. That's it, nothing too difficult.” JT instructed.

Malcolm opened his eyes squinting as the sun was just a little too bright. When he saw JT was waiting he leaned forward, putting his arms over JT's shoulders and locked his hands, while JT hooked his arms under Malcolm's legs and gave a few bounces to get him further up his back.

"Mmmph m-my head" Malcolm groaned and the movement jostled his head.

"Sorry man. You good?" JT apologized.

"Mmhhhmm." Malcolm rested his chin on the top of JT's head.

JT started walking, listening to Malcolm relax a bit.

"Remember, we are not telling anyone about this. This stays between me and you." He reminded Malcolm.

After a few seconds of Malcolm not saying anything back, JT realized he hadn't been listening.

"Bright, I need you to stay conscious, buddy. It's not good for you to fall asleep with that concussion of yours."

…

"Bright?"

…

Still no reply

JT shook Malcolm again, not enough to cause harm but just enough to stir him.

"Mmmmm."

"Bright, talk to me man. How about you tell me about the dog you met back there." JT pushed, trying to get Malcolm to stay awake.

"Mm El-Ellie?" Malcolm asked.

"Was that her name?" 

"Ye' s-she she's v'ry big a-and f… fluffy. I-I want a dog." Malcolm mumbled.

"You sure about that man? Could you handle one?" JT questioned.

"Su-sunshine would ki-kill me." Malcolm frowned.

"Who's sunshine?" 

"M-my birb… s-she, she knows h-how to dance, s...she likesssss to bop 'er hea...d up and down. It'ssss sss-ssooo cute!" Malcolm beamed.

"You have a bird!" JT said, surprised.

"Of c'rse I-I do… I g… I get lonely too. Are y-you lonely?" Malcolm wondered.

"What!?" JT said thrown off-guard by the question.

"Are y… you lonely?" Malcolm repeated.

"Of course not! I have Tally and we have a cat. I have our team." JT defended.

"So… that doesn't mean you a-aren't lonely. I-I get l-lonely…" Malcolm sighed.

JT heard a sniffle come from Malcolm.

"Don't you dare cry all over my head." JT teased.

"No p-promises" Malcolm chuckled.

"You know the team is here if you ever need us." JT reminded him for the second time that day.

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


After several minutes, Jaron’s house came back into view.

“H-hey would y-y-yo’ look a’ tha’ we’re umm we’re here!” Malcolm slurred, overjoyed to finally see JT’s car again.

“Finally! No offense, Bright, but just because you are on the smaller side doesn’t mean that I’m not tired as hell carrying your ass.” JT added.

“S….sor….rry.” Malcolm apologized.

“Don’t stress about it.” JT said, approaching his car. He got to the passenger side and gently let Malcolm down, leaning him against the car before reaching into his pocket for his keys and opened the door, helping Malcolm sit.

Malcolm let out a sigh of relief, immediately relaxing and laying the side of his head against the headrest, closing his eyes. 

“I’m gonna go grab the first aid kit from my trunk, so stay conscious and please, whatever you do, don’t. hurt. yourself.” JT said, patting Malcolm’s knee before walking to the trunk and retrieving the first aid kit. 

When JT returned, Malcolm was eating the sandwich he had saved from earlier. 

“Hungry?” JT questioned while crouching down in front of Malcolm opening up the first aid kit.

“Mmhmm.” Malcolm hummed while chewing on a bite.

JT untied Malcolm’s shoe and slipped it off, causing Malcolm to hiss through his teeth. JT grabbed an ace bandage and gently lifted Malcolm’s foot and started wrapping it. 

“When I’m done patching you up, I want you to put your foot up on the dashboard and keep it elevated. It will help the swelling go down.” JT informed him, finishing up the wrap. JT went for the alcohol and gauze next. Pouring a little bit of alcohol onto the square of gauze, he reached up, dabbing lightly at the wound on the side of Malcolm’s head, earning another wince from Malcolm. When he finished cleaning the gash, he grabbed a clean piece of gauze and some medical tape, bandaging it up. 

“You've gone quiet on me again.” JT said, turning his attention from the wound to Malcolm’s face. Malcolm was staring off, looking really pale. “Bright?” He lurched forward, vomiting, barely missing JT by inches.

"Shit man, that sandwich was a bad idea, huh?" JT said as Malcolm gagged one more time before sitting back up, eyes closed, and completely exhausted. JT rotated Malcolm's torso so he was facing the windshield and leaned him back against the seat before lifting in his left leg and then gently setting his right leg up on the dashboard. 

JT closed up the first aid kit and returned it to the trunk before closing the passenger door and going to the drivers side to finally get to sit down himself. 

Now all they had to do was wait.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K guys here it is the last chapter of Unwanted Bonding Time! I hope you all enjoyed reading it has much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm definitely going to keep on writing more fics, in fact I am currently waiting for my Bad Things Happen Bingo card, so you guys have a lot to look forward to hopefully. 
> 
> Thank You for reading and I love you all <3

  
JT was trying his best to keep Malcolm conscious, but it was getting very difficult to keep a conversation with him. He was either slurring so much that JT couldn't understand him, or Malcolm wasn’t coherent enough to properly understand what JT was saying. He resorted to nudging Malcolm every five minutes to make sure he was still ok.

The long wait finally came to end as, in his rearview mirror, JT spotted Gil’s Le Mans pulling up. 

“Bright, they're here.” JT announced, nudging Malcolm again.

“Hmmmm.” Malcolm hummed.

JT got out of the car and walked toward the Le Mans. Gil and Dani stepped out.

“How’s Bright?” Gil asked immediately. 

“Not great… ” JT trailed off.

Gil and Dani looked towards JT’s car, very concerned.

“Like, I need to call an ambulance ‘not great’, or he just needs a ride to the hospital ‘not great’?” Gil questioned looking back at JT.

“The latter should be fine. The concussion has gotten majorly worse and turns out he had a sprained ankle he didn’t tell me about that is now also ten times worse, but there’s nothing that will kill him if we don’t get him to the hospital right away.” JT informed them.

“What happened?” Dani asked.

“We didn’t check the pantry and Jaron smashed a fruit bowl into Bright’s head while I was upstairs. Bright chased after him and tripped. By the time I got to him he was out cold and Jaron was gone.”

“Damn, let’s see the guy, shall we.” Gil said, gesturing towards the car, showing JT to lead the way.

JT opened the passenger door and stood behind it, giving Gil space.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Gil crouched down beside Malcolm. Malcolm had closed his eyes again and was unaware of Gil’s presence. 

“Bright.” Gil spoke gently, putting a firm hand on the back of Malcolm’s neck. Malcolm leaned into the touch and moaned as his eyes fluttered open. “There’s those bright blue eyes. How are you feeling?” Gil asked.

“G-gil? Wha’ you d… doin’ ‘ere?” Malcolm slurred.

“I'm here to take you and JT back home.” Gil smiled.

“J-JT!? w-w-w-where is JT?” Malcolm looked around, panicked.

“He’s right here with Dani, don’t worry.” Gil comforted, rubbing Malcolm’s neck. 

“D-D-Dani’s here?” Malcolm stuttered.

“Yeah, we’re all here. We’re always here for you, but how about we get you home now?” Gil replied.

“That is… is what J-JT sssaid while--”

“I said while we were walking” JT interrupted before Malcolm could finish.

“N-n-no I… I distinctly r-r-remember I wasn’t walkin’” Malcolm objected. 

“You're concussed, Bright, you're just confused. Come on, let’s get you to Gil’s car.” JT changed the subject. 

Gil lifted Malcolm’s ankle off the dashboard and brought his legs outside the car. Malcolm rotated with them. Gil slung Malcolms left arm over his shoulder, while JT went for his right arm. They slowly lifted him out of the car, watching to make sure his foot didn’t hit anything, keeping his weight off of it. Dani walked ahead to open the back door of the Le Mans. 

As they were walking Malcolm stopped. “WAIT!”

“What?!” Gil asked, startled by the sudden shout.

“JT you… you gave me a… a p-piggy back ride. Tha’ why I-I don't r-remember walkin’!” Malcolm exclaimed. JT groaned, looking down, getting frustrated with Malcolm and his inability to keep his mouth shut.

“Malcolm now’s really not the time. We need to get that foot elevated again and get you home.” Gil said, completely ignoring the comment.

Malcolm looked at JT with his big, curious eyes,“Y-you're emba--”

“Bright! WALK!” JT shouted.

Malcolm flinched, looking away and mumbled “fine”, before starting to hop on his left leg again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gil, JT, and Malcolm got to the side of the Le Mans right as two squad cars pulled up. 

“I got Bright, you guys go fill them in.” Dani said, taking Malcom’s right arm from JT.

“We’ll try to make it quick.” Gil said before walking away with JT. 

Dani gently helped Malcolm into the car, having him scoot all the way in so she could join him. 

She got him buckled up before grabbing his right leg and bringing it up onto her lap. Malcolm leaned against the car door, staring at Dani.

“Yes, what is it, Bright?” Dani asked.

“Don’t t-t-tell JT th-that I told you thi’ but…” Malcolm stopped before leaning forward and whispering, “but h-he gave me a p-p-p-piggy back ride.” He leaned back with a drunken smile.

“Your secret’s safe with me.” Dani smiled back, giving his leg a gentle pat. She of course planned on teasing the two men with this information for months.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic so be nice, but at the same time know I love constructive criticism and would love feedback!!! I would like to thank the Whump Prodigal Son discord I'm in for encouraging me to write my own fic for once, instead of begging them to update theirs. Also a big BIG thank you to [hellbent_panda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellbent_panda/pseuds/hellbent_panda) for being my editor, my writing would be a mess without you! Go check out his stuff he's amazing too!!!


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